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Sunday, October 16, 2011

16 October 1908: Note in a Bottle Found in Old College Wall

On this day in 1908, the Weekly Banner reported an interesting discovery from the renovation of Old College on the University of Georgia campus:

Old College was built in 1806, and spent most of its years housing students and suffering for such service. The first attempt to remedy the constant wear and tear came in 1824, when the foundation and large cracks in the interior walls were repaired, and "fixed two belts of iron bars to go round the house fastened and united together at the corners of the house by screws to keep the four walls in 'status quo.'"

The building's use as a Wayside Home for injured soldiers during the Civil War did not improve the structure's soundness, and in 1888, underwent a major renovation that included tearing down the interior walls and adding indoor bathrooms for the dormitory. A. O. Lyndon, who placed the note into the wall while working on the building, was an Atlanta plumber.

2 comments:

I asked Steven Brown at Hargrett if he'd ever seen it, and he has not. Of course, as we know, that doesn't mean the note and bottle isn't there--though I am willing to bet that something only 20 years old seemed more like trash than an artifact.